1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle control apparatus for avoiding contact between a vehicle and an obstacle located in the rear of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
As disclosed in JP2004-351992A, conventionally, there is known a vehicle control apparatus configured to avoid contact between the vehicle and an obstacle detected by a sensor by stopping the vehicle forcibly when a distance between the vehicle and the detected obstacle becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance. According to this conventional vehicle control apparatus, when the vehicle driver backs a vehicle into a garage and parks it, the vehicle driver cannot stop the vehicle at an appropriate position if a long distance is set for the predetermined distance because the vehicle stops before rear wheels come into contact with a car catch arranged within the garage. In addition, the vehicle driver feels a lot of trouble when backing the vehicle into the garage if adversely a short distance is set for the predetermined distance because the rear wheels come into contact with the car catch.